Jinn

by Jessica Cage

  Mike was having his own battle on land, taking out witches as fast as he could, while at the same time dodging landmines. He caught a glimpse of Jinn as he appeared on the far end of the field, snapped the necks of two witches and vanished again. Daegal had a lot more people on his team than they thought. There weren’t just cauldron stirrers. There were shifters, slithers, and even fairies who had turned dark. There were corrupt people in every house. Mike didn’t care who it was, if they came at him, he cut them down.

  Above, Cast emerged from hiding, and it would take Jax and all his men to take the beast down. Daegal had brokered a deal with the ice dragon to give him more power, and he hadn’t fallen short on that. Cast was at least five times the size of any of the other dragons in the sky, and quickly he killed three of the opposition. Their bodies fell from the sky, crashing into the ground, killing any poor soul unfortunate enough to be trapped beneath. He swooped down, breathing a trail of ice across the ground that Mike barely dodged, but his friend, another slither, wasn’t so lucky.

  Jax lead his people with strength. Flying beneath the large dragon, they unleashed their fire at his belly, taking his attention from the fight on the ground. Again, and again, they used his size against him. Once the thick skin had become worn from the fire, they attacked, using sharp talons and teeth to rip the beast apart. Their fight took them over the water as Jax herded Cast to the sea with strategic attacks. When he finally fell, his massive body slammed into the ocean. Still they attacked with fire, and talons ripping at his throat. They had to be sure the one who betrayed them would never rise again.

  The collapse of Cast into the ocean disrupted the battle beneath the waters. Where Praia was cornered by sirens, her people fought as hard as they could, but they were simply outnumbered. When the oversized dragon fell into the waters, his massive form remained a dragon, no longer able to turn back to his human counterpart due to the dark magic used to turn him into the monster he was. His body trapped both sirens and fae and dragged them down to the depths. Praia, heartbroken to see so many of her own taken away, turned and continued the fight. Still, she was outnumbered, and for the first time, worried that she might not survive. A redheaded siren swam directly at her. She had a spear in hand. Praia looked for a way out, but she was blocked on all sides. She lifted her hand to rub the medallion charm around her neck, to say her final farewell to Jinn. Before she could get the message across, the siren who approached her was snapped in half. The massive jaws of a sea dragon broke her in half by biting down with razor-like teeth, ripping her apart. The remaining sirens tried to flee, but it was too late for them. The dragons made quick work of them before joining Praia on her swim to Freycinet.

  When her head broke the surface of the water, Praia took in the sight on the shore. Jinn was in an all-out battle with Bruto! She gasped as they threw blows at each other. Bruto attacked Jinn, who merely dodged the assaults and only hit hard enough to deflect his friend. Praia started to swim toward them―she wanted to help Jinn, but the appearance of Rosie assured her that Jinn was not on his own.

  “Bruto!” Rosie called out. “You have to resist, you have to fight this!” Fortunately, and what was surely the first time it had ever been an advantage, Rosie had so much unresolved anger in her heart for the one who created them, that she was able to use that hatred to block his influence over her. She could feel his pull, his attempt to get inside of her head. Each time his voice would register, giving her a familiar itch at the back of her brain, she would flash back to a life she once had, to the family, the child she was taken away from. That loss made her strong, strong enough to resist.

  Jinn had also managed to avoid the hold of Daegal. He chose to focus on Nitara and the connection that still existed. The closer he got to her, the stronger that connection felt. He also felt Daegal trying to get in, but he resisted, because he had to.

  Bruto was not as strong. Against his own will, he attacked Jinn relentlessly. Daegal wished it so, and Bruto had to do what he was asked. Rosie tried to take his attention from Jinn, but to no avail. As long as Bruto attacked, Jinn would be distracted and unable to save his wife and ruin the warlock’s plans. As it was, there was no other immediate threat. The warlock, who she still hadn’t seen, wasn’t within sight. Though he influenced what was happening, he hadn’t the balls to show up in person. The dragons still fought in the sky with creatures that Daegal had conjured from the shadows. The demons were cut down by fire, but the threat was boundless―the more they destroyed, the more he conjured.

  Off in the distance fairies fought with witches as they tried to penetrate the narrow access point to the peninsula. Briar was trapped, her powers fading faster as the moon eclipsed the sun; Praia, though weakened, was still strong. Sitting in the water, watching it all play out, she had the most hope of saving them.

  Aborting her plan to run to the shore, she searched for a better way of helping them and found it in the sky. The other djinns were still secured by the witches atop the peak of the hill. The sound of heavy wings cutting through the air announced Praia’s chance to act. Using the same air magic that propelled her through the water, she shot from the sea and landed on the back of the dragon she recognized. It was time he gave her the ride he’d promised. “Take me to them!” She pointed to the trapped djinn when he looked at her. Rick turned his body and headed for the peak.

  The eclipse was getting closer and she would only have one shot, her energy was already fading. If she could somehow stop the djinn, release them from whatever magic was containing them, perhaps they would be strong enough to resist Daegal, just as Rosie and Jinn were. When Rick got her close enough, she leapt from the dragon’s back and fell to the ground in the center of the djinn. Six were in chains, pulled to their knees in a circle around two who were standing in the center. All their eyes were smoke filled. Whatever they were seeing, it wasn’t Praia or the war around them.

  Realizing there was no hope of gaining their attention, the fae pulled a knife from her back and quickly ran to the three witches that sat just outside of the circle, chanting. Her first victim felt the cold blade as it ran against her taught throat, ending her incantation with a gurgling sound. Praia moved quickly from the first to the next and drove her knife into the chest of the second witch, but before she could get to the third, the woman ran. Though the ritual had ended, and the spell was interrupted, the djinn continued their slow approach toward each other. She knew simply ending the spell wouldn’t be enough, but it was a start.

  In the hands of Nitara was the Lunaire stone, and the Solaris was held by another djinn, a man whose skin was the shade of fire. Both of their eyes were closed as they moved blindly forward. As they stepped closer together, they pulled the corresponding celestial object with them. Her first attempt was a foolish one in which she tried to rip the stone from the hands of Nitara, hoping the moon stone would recognize her as the child of its source of power, and come easily. It didn’t. It was as if the stone was fused to its new owner and neither budged no matter her effort. She tried to use air to push them apart, but the effort did nothing more than give her a migraine. Frustrated and dizzied, she stopped.

  “Shit!” she cried out. She had to try something else. Staring down from the peak, she witnessed Jinn as he continued his fight with Bruto, and Rosie who continued her attempts to intervene without hurting their friend. In the distance, Briar and her fairies were failing, the witches gaining more ground in the fight. Briar was restrained and forced to watch two fairies lose their lives as they tried desperately to defend their queen. So many lives had been lost, and if Praia didn’t act, more would fall. In a last-ditch attempt the change what was happening, she forced all her strength into one final move. The concentrated current of air shot from her hand, creating a lasso that wrapped around the male djinn, from the other hand, another current wrapped around a boulder perched just at the edge of the cliff. With one final peer over her shoulder at her struggling friends, she ran and leapt off the cliff, using the remaining strengt
h to shake the earth, knocking the boulder over the edge. The weight of her fall pulled the djinn with her and the two fell to the depths. Before she crashed through the surface, she witnessed Jax snatch Nitara from the fall. The magic had pulled her right along with them. As Jax flew away with Nitara as his haul, the stones were separated, and the sun and moon withdrew. Praia closed her eyes as her back crashed into the water, and she was dragged deep beneath the surface.

  Briar felt the return of her power. Looking above, she saw that the sun and the moon were retreating, and with each moment that passed, she became more fueled by the reappearing sun. Kelli and Jani were dead―their bodies lay on the ground before her, and the witches responsible cackled as they prepared another assault. This time, Mysti was in their sights. She would be damned if they killed her second. Her wrists were bound by the vines of a nearby tree. The witch in red commanded them to obey her, but unfortunately, she like the others were already celebrating a victory they had not yet secured.

  Briar called to her fire, and though the response was a weak one, it was enough to burn through the restraints that held her. Without her magic at its full strength, she had to use the combat training she’d done for years. She ran across the field, dodging fireballs launched from the dragons above who were on Daegal’s side. As she ran, she lifted an abandoned sword from the ground. Raising it above her head, she landed the blade square into the neck of the woman in red, removing her head from her torso. With her death, the forestry withdrew their bindings and her fairies were freed. Back on even ground, they fought their adversaries, their battle cries echoing into the sky where the dragons continued to cut down their own set of traitors.

  Large, winged bodies crashed to the ground, but Jinn kept his focus on Bruto … until he saw her, in the clutches of a dragon, being flown away. The moment was all it took for Bruto to slip away from Rosie and land a blow to his jaw that took Jinn off his feet.

  “Bruto, no!” Rosie cried.

  Jinn looked up to see the burly redhead standing over him. Fear and sadness intermingled in his eyes and he stared down on his friend. “I’m sorry.” Bruto lifted his hand, summoning his energy that glowed around his fist in an orange haze. Jinn prepared to defend himself, knowing it would mean the loss of one of their lives, but he could no longer avoid it. His own hand took on a blue glow at his side. Before either could draw fire, the arms of Rosie wrapped around Bruto and they vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

  With the two of them gone, Jinn turned his focus to Nitara and the dragon who held her. No matter how much he searched, the sky was too active to make sense of things. Dragons fought along with other winged beings and there was no sight of her.

  “Jinn!” Mike approached him, clothes torn, and body scarred. “Nitara, Daegal has her!”

  “What?” Jinn yelled before he could contain his anger.

  “Those damn dragons, they attacked Jax and took her!” Mike looked up. “Fucking traitors everywhere!”

  “Where did they go?” Jinn demanded.

  “I don’t know, man. I’m sorry. She was there one moment and gone the next.”

  “Fuck!” He scanned the area; in the distance Briar still fought. “Where is Praia?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since she leapt in the ocean with the other fae.” Mike scanned the shoreline. “She should have been here by now.”

  Jinn rubbed the medallion around his neck, hoping to connect to the fae girl, but there was no response. “Shit. Mike, I need you to find her!”

  “What are you going to do?” Mike questioned the man whose hand still glowed in a blue aura.

  “I’m going to find my wife.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out the small stone carved in the shape of the crescent moon. He held it in his hand, using it to connect to her, to the woman who held his heart. As it warmed in his palm, spreading the heat throughout him, he knew it had worked. He closed his eyes and left behind the ensuing battle.

  “Let her go!” Jinn’s voice reverberated around them, disturbing the wildlife in the trees of the thick forest. Birds flew from their homes, escaping the catastrophe that they sensed was about to happen.

  “Ah, Jinn, finally you join us.” Daegal spoke in the same sickly tenor that always coated his words. Time hadn’t changed much about the man. “All these years, I’ve searched so hard to find you. Where were you?”

  “Let her go, Daegal,” Jinn repeated his demand, ignoring the attempt a distracting conversation.

  “It was supposed to be you up there with her. She the moon, you her sun, forever repelling one another, but for just a moment, coming together. It was to be your love story!” He shook his head, revealing the pale skin behind the dark hood that covered his face. The man may have been immortal, but the years had not been good to him. His skin was grey and translucent, his eyes a sickly yellow and his mouth black with rot. “Too bad, I guess this is just as good a way for the two of you to come to an end. I suppose I’ll have to figure out my world domination another way.”

  “Nitara, are you okay?” Jinn asked the woman whose throat was wrapped in the long, grey fingers of the warlock.

  “Jinn, you shouldn’t have come here.” Sorrow filled her voice. For the first time since he’d known her, the woman was without hope.

  “You knew that I would. I could never leave you.” Jinn stepped forward but Daegal pulled back. “I could never sit back and allow this to happen.”

  “Ah, see, so touching!” Daegal threw Nitara to the ground. “You two were always my favorites, and at the same time, you bring me such heartache!”

  Nitara tried to run to Jinn but Daegal lifted his hand. A shadow reached out, expanding to the shape of his palm, and smacked her to the ground. The shadows continued to operate under his command and forced her to remain with her face in the dirt. The same force that restrained Nitara, knocked her husband away as he tried to run to her. His back slammed into a tree hard enough to crack the wood and send it falling to the ground. Daegal’s laughter filled his ears. He lifted his hand to cover his ears, and realized the stone was still in his grasp.

  Again, he used the stone to connect with her. The same warmth spread beneath his touch, and instead of taking him physically to her, his mind reached out. Under the weight of the shadow, that refused his body movement, he spoke to her.

  “Nitara, I’m here.” He was in her mind again.

  “Jinn, I don’t wanna die here.” Her voice was weak, she had nearly given up. He could hear it, she was tired, and she had every right to be.

  “You won’t, I promise, but we have to work together.”

  “What do you need me to do?”

  “He said that you are the moon, and I am your sun. When we get together, powerful things can happen. We must fight this, we need to get to each other. We are strongest together. That is why he is determined to keep us apart!”

  “How? I can’t move.” Her voice, though internal, trembled with fear.

  “Nitara, we are stronger than this. Our magic is no longer bound by him. You know it. Focus on your magic. Connect to your power and refuse him the same way you were before! How did you do it? In that cage where I found you, you were fighting against him. I need you to do the same thing now.”

  “Jinn, I―”

  “Listen, remember when we first got married?” he coaxed her. He had to get through to her.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you remember what you told me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Say it, now.”

  “There is no love stronger than ours. The sun, the moon, the earth, and the stars, they wish to have a bond as strong as ours.”

  “Nitara, I meant every word I said to you. You will have my heart for as long as the sun rises to kiss the sky, and for an eternity after it fades. I will not leave here without you, and I refuse to let you give up on yourself!”

  “Okay. We can do this, together.”

  “Always together, Nitty.”

  Allowing the love that fueled his
fight to reach through to her, Jinn called to the fighter inside of his wife. The bond between them strengthened as Nitara regained her hope. Even though they weren’t yet together, they were strong. Jinn whispered through their bond, “Fire,” and the forest was set ablaze in blue and purple flames cutting through the shadows and releasing them from their hold.

  In a blur they ran to each other, slamming into a firm embrace. In one show of the power of their unity, Nitara’s light mixed with Jinn’s and created a blast that dispersed the remaining shadows and left Daegal with none of his minions to command. He called them to him but there was too much light, no shadow could form. The fire subsided, only burning the immediate area and leaving the rest of the forest unharmed.

  Daegal shouted curses at the two, and realizing that he had no choice, he gave up on the shadows and charged the two. Even without his shadows at his command, he proved still to be a difficult adversary. His power wasn’t his own, stolen from those he’d tricked over the years. He opened his mouth and breathed a stream of ice, courtesy of the dragon, Cast. The ground beneath Nitara’s feet froze and she slipped, slamming her head against the ice.

  Daegal, never one to miss an opportunity, moved again―this time with intent to kill. But Nitara had enough left in her that she grabbed hold of Jinn’s hand, again increasing his power by the connection. Jinn faced Daegal and the blue flames emerge tipped in the purple of his wife’s magic. He defended her, putting a protective circle around her body and taking his maker head on. Daegal used the one gift that was naturally his and called to his connection to the earth to shake the ground beneath Jinn. Expecting the move, Jinn simply lifted from the earth, floating above the chaos beneath.